Yeah, I'm gonna give it a fair airing. If it's still boring me rigid by the 12 to 15 hour mark, then I'll decided it's not for me.

I already consider the first half hour one of the most genuinely heeartbreaking and emotional moments in gaming, while the sheer hilarity of Mr. Drippy has been one of my big motivating factors. It's also on my contenders list for best sounding and looking game of the gen!

The middle is a little flat, there's very little VO and it becomes something of a grind fest for a while and a lot of the sub quests are very dull indeed, they're kind of necessary but all the take heart - give heart stuff becomes a bit laborious tbh.

Still, if you like Mr. Drippy you owe it to yourself to carry on for a while yet, there's some excellent Drippy related stuff in there.

I've reached the Marshes section of this incredible game after 34 hours of playing it but I'm wondering how near I am to the end. If I'm close then I want to finish as many of the optional side quests and bounty hunts as I can before doing the final stretch. I don't want to look at a walkthrough for fear of spoilers. Anyone?

Also, where the hell is the third pigeon in the option quest in the desert city? I've found the one near the Tikka Mahala stall and the one in the enclosure near the fountains but just cannot see the last one anywhere. It's really annoying me to be honest.

P.S. This an absolute bona fida 10/10 classic for me and, by far, the finest JRPG I've played to date. I've also been enjoying Tales of Graces f too, which is terrific, but Ni no Kuni is just in a class of its own IMO. I've also just started Persona 4 Golden on the PS Vita and that is looking like a cracker too. I think I'm definitely feeling the JRPG 'buzz' at the moment.

Couldn't find that last pigeon either! and i swear i checked the shops too!

just sort had to a full on research of familiars. Done the shipwrecked magic stone thing with teh frogs, and proceeded to find hte next one ( i for some reason went to perida ) and got my arse seriously owned. Levelled up on toko island ( ) and restructed my team.

Basically took out gunther, and put in tank, and lehmal (now gets used!). Added monolith to ester rank, so see how far that gets me. And a couple of snakey things for oli as well (Tried to line up the gensus)

Darren wrote:
I've reached the Marshes section of this incredible game after 34 hours of playing it but I'm wondering how near I am to the end. If I'm close then I want to finish as many of the optional side quests and bounty hunts as I can before doing the final stretch. I don't want to look at a walkthrough for fear of spoilers. Anyone?

You are certainly nearing the end. So you might want to go through some side quests. What level are you?

@darren still loads more to do yet outside of the story. I completed the story 63 hours ish and did all side missions i could up to that point. There's more to come. I'm 98hours in now and still going.lol

Wow, 25 hours. I found myself crawling along in the Ding Dong Well, getting into lots of battles thinking 'life's too short for this lark' (as in, why the hell am I persisting with something I'm clearly not enjoying).

Don't think I've ever had a love/hate relationship with a game in such a manner before.

The Solisseum is basically impossible due to the battle system which is a shame. Finally managed to get to the very final fight on the top rank, I'm level 94 and my familiars are all pushing level 99, but still can't make a dent so really not sure where to go from here...I mean I could level up to level 99 but that'll give me a tiny bit more health and that's it.

It really is odd that I've managed to do basically everything now despite the battle system.

FuzzyDuck wrote:
I'm besotted with the world, graphics, characters and soundtrack, but 6 hours in and I'm absolutely bored rigid by the flaky battle system and the dull, repetitive gameplay.

I really wanted to love this

This sums up my thoughts. Story, graphics, tone and art direction are exemplary. Battle system and pacing are a real ball ache. Only 15 hours in and I'm already finding myself grinding. Really wanted to like it but I don't know if I can put up with its foibles for 60+ hours

Humperfunk wrote:
The Solisseum is basically impossible due to the battle system which is a shame. Finally managed to get to the very final fight on the top rank, I'm level 94 and my familiars are all pushing level 99, but still can't make a dent so really not sure where to go from here...I mean I could level up to level 99 but that'll give me a tiny bit more health and that's it.

It really is odd that I've managed to do basically everything now despite the battle system.

I have the alchemy trophy and solisseum left to do. I got up to S rank on about lvl 76 but failed S rank as i thought only three fight not four so ran out of MP. I could be majorly wrong but i can't see it being that tough now.

I have Two max lvl Dino's (light blue not red) His Attack is dead on 700 at the mo with defence at 450+. The i have a monolith on Swaine max lvl and umberwood (i think it's called) on Esther so they both have defence when i push square. I obliterate everything. The guardian of worlds can be done in about 4-5 minutes now. When i first started it took me 20 minutes.

FuzzyDuck wrote:
I'm besotted with the world, graphics, characters and soundtrack, but 6 hours in and I'm absolutely bored rigid by the flaky battle system and the dull, repetitive gameplay.

I really wanted to love this

This sums up my thoughts. Story, graphics, tone and art direction are exemplary. Battle system and pacing are a real ball ache. Only 15 hours in and I'm already finding myself grinding. Really wanted to like it but I don't know if I can put up with its foibles for 60+ hours

This is why I haven't bought the game. I love Ghibli and I like most of Level 5's previous games, but I thought the battle system in the demo was weak. I can see it really pissing me off over the whole game. It's a shame, as I though Level 5 nailed turn based combat in Dragon Quest 8, and the combat in White Knight Chronicles felt like a regression from that.

@Zackv4861 Haha 700 attack! You'll most likely dominate it then mate, I'm level 94 but my mites attack is about 350. Esther still rocking the Drongo (level 98) but a good idea to set her up with something a bit more defensive minded also, think her other main one is a level 97 cat...

Developers and publishers are told at every turn that innovation is expected from them, JRPGs in particular have been taking a boot to the head in this respect since the start of the PS2 generation. The battle system is an area where you can change things up without spending extra money.

Which leads us to this generation and hardly any games being turn based at all, we have a plethora or realtime and hybrid turn based/realtime systems, barely any of the hybrid systems work in a satisfactory manner. Tried and tested systems that worked have been thrown out for systems that don't have years of refinement behind them.

Blame the gaming media, Simon Parkin's Wild Arms 4 review on this very site is a prime example, he absolutely lays into the game due to a perceived lack of innovation, even though the battle system from Wild Arms 3 has been entirely replaced with a new hex based system. It was still turn based, not innovative!

This is further reinforced with a following review of his for Valkyrie Profile 2 where he references the Wild Arms 4 review, why can't you guys be like this? Valkyrie Profile 2 does indeed have a nice hybrid battle system, but not everybody can be tri-ACE, their battle systems rarely fall below great.

Imagine if Citroen, Ford, BMW etc. all had their own customised setups for operating their motor vehicles, what an nuisance it would be. Fortunately they're not insane, the three pedals, gearstick and steering wheel setup works for most people, they'll innovate in areas that don't interfere with usability and ease of operation.

In the games industry the non-functional is commonly imposed onto the enduser in the name of innovation, the Wii Remote is probably the ultimate example, it's simply not a very versatile controller. Situations where it simply doesn't work at all were common for me. In the name of innovation, systems that work satisfactorily are torn down alongside features that didn't work, perhaps it's a sign of the industry's immaturity that nobody is saying. leave that alone, it works. You can't allow the player to have hundreds of possible choices for their next action with a realtime system.

That ghost character you see on your travels gives you a riddle about a warning in the Wizard's Companion. Spent ages looking for it and stupidly translating all the Nazcaa text I saw . Anyone willing to give me a page reference clue?

That ghost character you see on your travels gives you a riddle about a warning in the Wizard's Companion. Spent ages looking for it and stupidly translating all the Nazcaa text I saw . Anyone willing to give me a page reference clue?

Hopefully I'm thinking of the right riddle.

Hint: Remember he's talking about the clothes they wore.

Big hint: You want to be looking around the equipment section.

Blatant hint: Look carefully at the item descriptions for the robes/clothes.

Well I'm 20 hours in to the game and currently in Fairyground. Absolutely hooked by the game. Gorgeous to look at, some good stories and just a fantastic world to explore.

I wasn't too sure about the battle system to start with but I'm really enjoying it now. I haven't seen the need for grinding although I've done a few side quests but I find it challenging but not too frustrating. Boss battles are a bit tricky but usually get past them on the second attempt.

I can understand the gripes that people have with the battles but I find it's more a case of patience than anything else. Party members do seem to die quite a bit so I tend to always switch to Oliver and heal my team when they are getting low. Defending/evading is a real must during boss battles and can give you a whole bunch of glims with a succesful block.

The familiars take a bit of getting used to, working out the best way to implement them can be tricky but gets easier as the game progresses. I try and get most of my familiars upto lvl 10+ which can be done 2 or 3 at a time with a 10 - 15 easy battles.

I don't usually play this type of game and thought I was going to get bored but it just keeps giving and giving. When you first take the boat out of Castaway Cove, the sheer delight of the world map takes your breath away.

Would love if there had been more voiceovers rather than text but can't have it all I suppose.

Only 4 hours in, just rescued the Cat King in Ding Dong Dell. That dungeon defined everything about JRPGs that really needs to change in my mind. No way of saving in between. Puzzles that requires casting a spell that uses MP and requires timing to get right. Mess it up? Run out of MP and iced coffee? Well then, just grind a bit until you level up and your MP get replenished.

This is *not* good design.

Other that, I'm still charmed by the game and enjoying pretty much everything else about it. Early days though

That ghost character you see on your travels gives you a riddle about a warning in the Wizard's Companion. Spent ages looking for it and stupidly translating all the Nazcaa text I saw . Anyone willing to give me a page reference clue?

Hopefully I'm thinking of the right riddle.

Hint: Remember he's talking about the clothes they wore.

Big hint: You want to be looking around the equipment section.

Blatant hint: Look carefully at the item descriptions for the robes/clothes.

Murbal wrote:
Only 4 hours in, just rescued the Cat King in Ding Dong Dell. That dungeon defined everything about JRPGs that really needs to change in my mind. No way of saving in between. Puzzles that requires casting a spell that uses MP and requires timing to get right. Mess it up? Run out of MP and iced coffee? Well then, just grind a bit until you level up and your MP get replenished.

This is *not* good design.

Other that, I'm still charmed by the game and enjoying pretty much everything else about it. Early days though

I felt exactly the same at this point, but I think that dungeon is an MP pinch point, I've not had the same issue since. No saving sucks though.

Murbal wrote:
Puzzles that requires casting a spell that uses MP and requires timing to get right. Mess it up? Run out of MP and iced coffee? Well then, just grind a bit until you level up and your MP get replenished.

The timing is pretty generous for that puzzle, the problem is lighting the first brazier you come across, lighting them in the sequence they're found.

The easy way is to do the last, then drop down to the first, then light the second.

Pretty standard stuff since this sort of puzzle crops up so often in JRPGs.

So just defeated shadar. And have seemed to gone into this extra extra ending thing. Which is a bit weird has i really liked the 'shadar' ending, and now i have to remuster energy to sort of carry on. You get a pretty definitive sort of ending after you defeat him. Loved the little 'twist' they play on shadar's role, and felt it was in keeping with the story.